Rotary engine



(No Model.) 2 sneeze-sheet 2. W./B'. STORY.

l' ROTARY ENGINE.

UNITED STATES vPATi-iNT OFFICE.

' WARD B. STORY, OF FRnni-IOLD, NEW YORK.V

ROTARY ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 594,712, dated November30, 18.97.

Application filed April 14, 1897l To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VARD B. STORY, of Freehold, in the county of Greeneandk State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Rotary Engine,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to rotary engines such as shown and described inthe application for Letters Patent of the United States, Serial No.630,496, filed by me on April 3, 1897.

The object of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedrotary engine arranged to utilize the steam expansively to produce thebest possible results without waste of motive agent.

The invention consists principally of a cylinder, a piston having aplurality of pistonheads, a series of movable abutments in thel saidcylinder, and a rotary valve connected with the supply and with anexhaust and adapted to connect with a series of ports leading into thesaid cylinder, each port forming alternately an inlet and an exhaustport.

The invention also consists of certain parts and details andcombinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter andthen pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart ofthis speciiication, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in allthe figures.

Figure lis a sectional side elevation of the improvement on the line 1 lof Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the same onthe line 2 2 of Fig. l. Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional side elevations ofthe improvement with parts in different positions, and Fig. 5 is a planview of the rotary valve.

The improved rotary engine is provided with a cylinder A, in which ismounted to turn a piston B, provided with a plurality of piston-heads B'B2, arranged diametrically opposite each other and secured on a hub B2,attached to the main driving-shaft C, journaled in suitable bearings inthe heads A' and A2 of the cylinder A. In .the wall of the cylinder Aare fulcrumed abutments C' C2 C2, mounted to swing into the workingchamber of the cylinder to abut with their free ends On shoulders A2,formed on the heads A' and A2, and the said abutments receive a positiveswinging motion from the driving-shaft C by Serial No. 632 J111. (Nomodel.)

crank-arms D, links D', levers D2, and an eccentric E, as fully shownand described in detail in the application above referred to, so thatfurther description of this particular mechanism is not deemednecessary.

The' abutments C' C2 C2 are adapted to swing into recesses A4, formed onthe inner surface of the cylinder A, to allow the pistonheads B' and B2to pass as the piston rotates in the direction of the arrow c'. Intotherecesses A4 open the ports a, Zi, ando, adapted to be closed by thefree ends of the abutments G', C2, and C2, respectively, when thelatteare in an outermost or folded position, and the said ports openinto a steam-chest F, containing a rotary valve G and connected with asteam-supply H and an exhaust I. The rotary valve G has the outer end ofits shaft G' provided with a gear-wheelJ in mesh with an intermediategear-wheel J', journaled on a stud secured to the head A2, and thisintermediate gear-wheel J' is in mesh with a gear-wheel J2, secured onthe main drivingshaft C; The gear-wheels J, J', and J2 ,are soproportioned that one revolution of the shaft C, and consequently thatof the piston B, produces two revolutions of the valve G. The latter isprovided in its peripheral surface with the ports c and f,`adapte d toregister successively with the ports d c b, and the port e leads to oneend of the valve G to connect at all times with the supply I-I, whilethe other port f leads in the opposite direction to connect at all timeswith the exhaust I, as will be readily understood byreference to Figs. 2and 5. The port e is thus the steaminlet port and f the exhaust-port. Asmall port` g leads to the seat orl fulcrumed end of each abutment fromthe outside of the cylinder, so that an escape is provided for any steamleft in a compartment between a pistonhead and the following' abutmentafter the corresponding exhaust-port is closed, so that no unduecompression of steam or air takes place in the cylinder.

The operation is as follows: When the several parts are in the positionas illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 and the piston B rotates lin thedirection of the arrow d' and the valve G revolves in the directionofthe arrow b', the steam-inlet port e is about-to connect with the portc to allow live steam to pass from the IOO supply H, through the ports ec, into the cylinder A, between the abutment C2 and the piston-head B',to cause the live steam to act 0n the said piston-head to turn thepiston in the direction of the arrow a. Shortly after the ports e and care connected with each other the portsf and d are brought intocommunication to allow the steam contained incam E will impart aswinging motion to the abutment C', so that the latter moves into afolded position, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the ports e and c being-thenfullyconnected with each other to still use live steam underboilerpressure in the cylinder between the abutment C2 and thepiston-head B. 'Ihe port d is now closed by the abutment C3, and thepiston-head B2 has now passed the abutment C, and the latter now swingsout of its folded position into a workin g position, as illustrated inFig. 4t. lVhen this takes place, the ports e and c are disconnected andthe port e is about to connect with the port l) to allow the live steamto pass into the cylinder between the abutment C and the piston-head B2to give another impulse to the piston in the direction of the arrow d.The cylinder between the abutment C2 and the piston-head VB now operatesexpansively against the head B until the port j' registers with the portc to connect the said port of the cylinder with the exhaust I by way ofthe ports c f, and any steam or air left in the cylinder between thepiston-head B and the abutment C' can pass out through the seat for theabutment O and the corresponding port g.

Now it will be seen that by the arrangement described the live steamunder boilerpressure acts on one of the piston-heads, while the otherpiston-head is acted on by the expansive force of the steam already cutoit from that particular compartment in the cylinder, while in theremaining compartments of the cylinder the steam can still escape toavoid compression.

It will further be seen that by the arrangement described the valve G inmaking two revolutions for one revolution of the piston B connects thelive steam six times with the cylinder to give six impulses to thepiston at each revolution of the latter, at the same time allowing thesteam to act expansively on the piston-heads and also to furnish aproper exhaust of the steam from the corresponding compartments.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patentl. A rotary engine, comprising a cylinder, apiston having a plurality of piston-heads in the same cylinder, a seriesof movable abutments in the said cylinder, and a rotary Valve connectedwith a supply and an eX- haust and adapted to connect with a series ofports leading into the said cylinder and positive rotative connectionswith the shaft, whereby the rotations of the valve are an even multipleof those of the shaft, substantially as shown and described.

2. A rotary engine, comprising a cylinder having a series of portsforming alternately inlet and exhaust ports, a piston having a pluralityof piston-heads in the same cylinder and mounted to turn in the saidcylinder, a series of movable abntments in the said cylinder, asteam-chest connected with a supply and an exhaust, and a rotary valvein the said steam-chestihaving ports, of which one is connected atl alltim es with the supply and the other with the exhaust, the saidvalveports being adapted to register successively with the saidcylinder-ports, and rotative connections from the valve to the shaft,substantially as shown and described.

3. A rotary engine, comprising a cylinder having a series of portsforming alternately inlet and exhaust ports, a piston having a pluralityof piston-heads and mounted to turn in the said cylinder, a series ofmovable abutments in the said cylinder, a steam-chest connected with asupply and an exhaust, a rotary valve in the said steam-chest havingports, of which one is connected at all times with the'supply and theother with the exhaust, the said valve-ports being adapted to registersuccessively with the said cylinderports, and means substantially asdescribed, for rotating the said Valve from the pistonshaft in such amanner that the valve makes two revolutions to one revolution of thepiston, substantially as shown and described.

VARD B. STORY. lVitnesses:

NATHAN AUGUSTUS, IRA F. HUNT.

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